Lufthansa plans direct Mumbai-Munich flight

German carrier Lufthansa is all set to launch a direct Mumbai-Munich flight by early next year. This, executive vice-president Thierry Antinoiri said on Saturday, is part of Lufthansa’s strategy to become the most Indian European airline”. The airline, currently in the process of finalising details of the direct Mumbai-Munich flight, currently operates 45 weekly flights from six destinations in India. “India is an important market for us and since 2003 we have doubled our capacity in India,” Antinori said addressing the media on the sidelines of the five-day ITB in Berlin, one of the world’s largest travel fairs. He also announced a record number of connections for summer 2007, touching 192 destinations in 78 countries.

With effect from March 25, the South Korean port city of Busan will become the latest addition in the Asia Pacific region to the Lufthansa’s long-haul network. The airline added Kolkata to its growing network in India on December 1 last year. The other new destinations in the new network include Tirana, Valencia, Bastia on the Island of Corsica, Hungary’s Lake Balaton and the Danish island of Bornholm. Lufthansa also announced a record net profit and revenue in 2006: it increased by almost 10% to 19.8 billion euros. The group profit after tax climbed to a new peak at 803 million euros and its operating profit was up by 46% to 845 million euros.

“The year 2006 has been very satisfying for us in every sense. The figures speak for themselves and underline the successful course that has been set by the Lufthansa Group,” said the airline’s chairman and CEO Wolfgang Mayrhuber. By May this year, the airline is planning to install fully flat seats in the business and first class cabins of all its long-haul flights. Lufthansa is also supporting the efforts of India’s national carrier to become a part of the Star Alliance, besides extending bilateral cooperation to Jet Airways. At the ITB, the carrier organised a special booth with an Indian crew. “We have employed Hindi-speaking staff at the Berlin and Munich airports to assist our Indian customers. Even our in-flight entertainment programmes have a very good mix of Hollywood and Bollywood films. This speaks about our commitment to our Indian customers,” added Antinori.

Courtesy: Economic Times

visit us @ http://www.silkrouteholidays.com